ALEXANDRIA: Voter turnout dropped significantly on the second day of parliamentary elections in the Northern coastal city of Alexandria as the heated competition continued between the Muslim Brotherhood’s Freedom and Justice Party (FJP) and the Salafi Al-Nour Party.
Violations seen in campaigning outside polling stations continued Tuesday with more campaigning by Al-Wafd Party and members of the dissolved National Democratic Party (NDP), running as independents, in addition to FJP and Al-Nour.
A car was seen touring the streets of the city encouraging voters to vote for FJP chanting "Allahu Akbar" (Allah is the Greatest) and "Lellah El-Hamd" (Thanks to God).
Abdel-Fattah Mady, political science professor at Alexandria University, told Daily News Egypt that the high voter turnout on Monday is a reflection of people regaining trust in politics, flying in the face of theories claiming that Egyptians are not ready for democracy.
"It also proves that election fraud used to happen according to the political will of whoever was ruling Egypt and is not part of the Egyptian identity," Mady said, adding that the number of elderly voting proves people’s readiness for democracy as long as no restrictions are imposed on them.
Head of Al-Nour Party Emad Abdel Ghafour told DNE he expects his party to win 10-15 percent of the total votes across the country and 50 percent of Alexandria’s, while maintaining that the performance of FJP was "excellent."
He also condemned alleged political campaigning by the Church and Al-Azhar, saying that people should choose based on the programs of the parties, not their religious affiliations.
He cited an incident of a Coptic shopkeeper who saluted him, wishing his party good luck as a will by Copts to peacefully exist within the national fabric.
"We are an Egyptian party, we do not sort people according to their religion because this will lead to more divisions and segregation within the community," Abdel Ghafour explained.
Abdel Ghafour justified the campaigning by his party in front of the polling stations as "exceptions that were committed by all parties," adding that his party was unable to counter stereotypes about Salafis prior to the elections.
